THE NEW BOT
by Kim Dreamcatcher
Summary: 2ND IN SERIES: Feeling guilty, Miranda decides to take matters into her own hands with one of her grandfather's inventions.


THE NEW BOT  
  
"I'm so sorry about this, Dr. Light," Miranda apologized. She and her father, Jason, were inside Dr. Light's lab, where he was busy repairing MegaMan's arm. Roll was standing by Dr. Light's side to help out, and Rush was lying on a nearby table, still out cold. "This is all my fault. I never should have given ProtoMan that formula."  
  
"Stop blaming yourself, Miranda. It wasn't your fault," Roll told Miranda.  
  
"Looks like I've got everything reconnected," Dr. Light announced as he closed the panel on MegaMan's plasma cannon and reactivated him.  
  
"Dr. Light? What's going on?" MegaMan asked curiously as he slowly sat up.  
  
"You and Rush suffered some damage from your battle with ProtoMan," Dr. Light explained as he approached Rush and started working on him.  
  
"I don't understand what happened. I never seen ProtoMan's attack so juiced up before," MegaMan muttered out loud as he stood up from the table.  
  
"It's all my fault, MegaMan. I gave ProtoMan the formula," Miranda reluctantly revealed. "I had no choice, Mega. He was gonna hurt my dad. I'm so sorry."  
  
"It's okay, Miranda. You did what you thought was best," MegaMan assured Miranda. "You did what you had to do to save your father."  
  
"I know, but thanks to me, Wily has enough of that formula to create an army of super-strong robots!" Miranda announced. "You won't be able to stand a chance against them, MegaMan."  
  
"I know, but I gotta try," MegaMan replied. He turned around and approached Dr. Light, who was still working on Rush. "How's Rush, Dr. Light?" MegaMan asked.  
  
"He's suffered quite a bit of damage to his turbo-engines," Dr. Light explained. "I managed to repair and replace all of the damaged circuits." After Dr. Light finished repairing Rush, he reactivated the robo-dog.  
  
"Ruff, ruff!" Rush barked happily as he jumped off of the table.  
  
"Now, let's see if we can discover a way to stop Wily," Dr. Light announced as he approached his computer and started typing away.  
  
"Don't worry, Miranda," Jason assured his daughter as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "If anyone can figure out a way to stop Dr. Wily, it's Dr. Light."  
  
"I sure hope so, dad," Miranda whispered as she held her locket and opened it up, revealing the picture of her grandfather inside.  
  
_I'm sorry, grandpa. I probably disappointed you most of all,_ Miranda thought sadly as she stared at her grandfather's picture. As she absently turned the locket around in her hand, Miranda gasped slightly when the photograph fell out of the locket and landed on the floor.  
  
"Oh, great!" Miranda muttered to herself as she knelt down to pick up the photograph, which landed picture side down on the floor. As she picked up the picture, Miranda saw something on the back of the picture that she never noticed before.  
  
"Huh? What's this?" Miranda asked herself as she looked at the letters, numbers, and symbols jotted on the back of the picture. "This looks like my grandfather's handwriting. I wonder if this could be...Dr. Light!"  
  
"What is it, Miranda?" MegaMan asked curiously as Miranda approached him, Dr. Light, Roll, and Rush.  
  
"I found this on the back of my grandpa's picture. It looks like a chemical formula," Miranda explained as she handed the picture to Dr. Light.  
  
"Indeed it is, Miranda," Dr. Light agreed as he looked over the small notes written on the back of the picture. "I've never seen a formula quite like this before. Perhaps it was something he was working on before he fell ill, but never got the chance to write it down in his notes."  
  
"Do you think that maybe this is Dr. Stoutenburg's robot formula?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"Perhaps, Roll, but I'll have to follow these notes and make the formula myself just to be certain," Dr. Light revealed.  
  
"If it'll give me a fighting chance against Wily's bots, then let's do it," MegaMan agreed.  
  
"I'll see what I can do," Dr. Light replied...  
  
"Oh, Doc? Guess what I got?" ProtoMan announced as he entered the cave, followed by GutsMan, CutMan, and SnakeMan. The four robots soon reached the main chamber of the cave, where Dr. Wily was waiting for them.  
  
"Oh! Is that what I think it is?" Dr. Wily asked a bit gleefully as ProtoMan showed him the small bottle in his hand.  
  
"The one and only," ProtoMan replied as he handed Dr. Wily the bottle. "One drop will do the job!"  
  
"Are you certain, ProtoMan?" Dr. Wily asked curiously.  
  
"See for yourself," ProtoMan announced as he fired his plasma cannon at the thick stone wall of the cave, creating a massive hole in the wall.  
  
"Incredible!" Dr. Wily admitted with a sinister chuckle. "Are you sure this is all there is?"  
  
"That's all Stoutenburg made, and he didn't even write down the formula at all," ProtoMan reported.  
  
"That's good to hear. There's no way that annoying blue dweeb will be able to stop us now!" Dr. Wily announced with an evil cackle. He turned his attention to CutMan, GutsMan, and SnakeMan. "Now, which one of you wants to be the next volunteer?" Dr. Wily asked.  
  
Cuts Man and SnakeMan looked at each other behind GutsMan's back and both took a step backwards, leaving GutsMan standing in front of them.  
  
"Ah, GutsMan. So nice of you to volunteer," Dr. Wily admitted as he approached the strong construction robot.  
  
"What the? Hey!" GutsMan complained loudly when he realized that CutMan and SnakeMan had tricked him.  
  
"Right this way, GutsMan," Dr. Wily instructed as he pulled GutsMan forward and opened a panel on the robot's chest, revealing the internal wires and computer chips. Dr. Wily removed the medicine dropper out of the bottle and squeezed a single drop of the dark olive green liquid onto GutsMan's circuits. Instantly, GutsMan's entire body radiated a mysterious white glow for a few seconds.  
  
"How do you feel, GutsMan?" Dr. Wily asked as he closed the panel.  
  
"Very strange," GutsMan murmured as he rubbed his head.  
  
"How do we find out if the formula worked on GutsMan?" Dr. Wily asked ProtoMan.  
  
"Well, let's see if that formula boosted his intelligence any!" ProtoMan remarked. "Hey, GutsMan! What's twelve times twelve?"  
  
"One hundred and forty-four," GutsMan answered without hesitation.  
  
"Does that answer your question, Doc?" ProtoMan asked.  
  
"It's obvious that GutsMan's intelligence has increased very dramatically," Dr. Wily muttered thoughtfully to himself.  
  
"No kidding, Doc!" ProtoMan retorted.  
  
"Now, to use this formula on all of my robots. I will have an invincible army of super-powerful robots, undt if MegaMan even tries to stop us, it will be the end for him!" Dr. Wily admitted with a gleeful cackle...  
  
"All I need to complete the formula is a single drop of sulfuric acid," Dr. Light muttered out loud as he carefully opened a small bottle, removed the medicine dropper, and squeezed a drop of the yellow liquid into a beaker filled with what appeared to be ordinary water, but was actually a mixture of different chemicals. As soon as the drop of sulfuric acid landed in the beaker, the chemical mixture started to bubble slightly as it turned dark olive green in color.  
  
"There! It's finished!" Dr. Light announced.  
  
"That's great news, Dr. Light!" Miranda admitted.  
  
"I'm ready, Doc," MegaMan replied as he opened a panel on his plasma cannon.  
  
"Are you sure about this, MegaMan?" Dr. Light asked curiously. "No telling what may happen."  
  
"That's just a risk I'll have to take, Doc," MegaMan replied. "We better hurry up before Wily attacks again." Just then, the alarms started going off.  
  
"That's the emergency band!" Dr. Light exclaimed as he ran over to the mainframe computer and pressed a few buttons. In a few moments, the mayor's face appeared on the screen.  
  
"Dr. Light, Wily's robots are attacking people at Central Park! We need MegaMan's help!" the mayor announced.  
  
"I'm on my way!" MegaMan assured the mayor as he grabbed a medicine dropper off the table, stuck it into the beaker, and sucked up some of the dark olive green liquid with the medicine dropper.  
  
"I sure hope this works!" MegaMan muttered to himself as he squeezed the medicine dropper, allowing a single drop to fall onto the circuits in his plasma cannon. Instantly, the Blue Bomber became encased in a white glow.  
  
"It does work!" Miranda gasped as the white glow faded away. "The same thing happened when ProtoMan used the formula on himself."  
  
"Just to be safe, we should use the formula on Rush as well," Dr. Light suggested.  
  
"Good idea, Doc. Rush, come here, boy!" MegaMan shouted.  
  
"Ruff-ruff!" Rush barked as he ran to MegaMan's side.  
  
"Just hold still, boy," MegaMan instructed as he knelt down, lifted Rush's helmet, and squeezed a drop of the formula onto Rush's head circuits. Like MegaMan, Rush also became encased in a white glow. As MegaMan put Rush's helmet back on, the robo-dog showed off by flexing his arms.  
  
"Snap to it, Rush!" MegaMan instructed.  
  
"Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked in agreement as he quickly converted into jet mode.  
  
"Wait! Don't forget your energy can, MegaMan!" Eddy announced as he ran to MegaMan's side, popped open his top, and launched an energy can at MegaMan.  
  
"Thanks, Eddy," MegaMan replied as he quickly drank the contents of the energy can before jumping on top of his robo-dog.  
  
"Good luck, MegaMan!" Miranda shouted as she watched MegaMan fly away through the canopy exit in the roof.  
  
"We should head back home, Miranda. I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do," Jason reassured his daughter...  
  
"Let's cut to the chase!" CutMan remarked as he fired the scissor blade from his head at a nearby tree. The scissor blade cut the tree's trunk in half and returned back to CutMan's head.  
  
"Timber!" GutsMan shouted with a sinister laugh as the tree fell towards a group of people. The people screamed out of panic and quickly ran out of the way as the tree hit the ground with a loud crash.  
  
"This is Brie Require reporting from Central Park, where Dr. Wily's evil robots are attacking innocent civilians in Central Park," Brie reported from a safe distance. "Look, up in the sky! It's MegaMan to the rescue!"  
  
"Just whom we've been waiting for!" Dr. Wily muttered out loud, who was watching everything in his Skull Car, which was hovering overhead. "Robots, destroy MegaMan!"  
  
"You got it, Dr. Wily!" ProtoMan admitted sinisterly as he fired his plasma cannon at his younger brother.  
  
"Heads up, Rush!" MegaMan warned his robotic dog.  
  
"Ruff! Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked as he quickly spun around in the air, barely avoiding ProtoMan's attack.  
  
"Get him now!" Dr. Wily shouted angrily.  
  
"This will be a real blast! He-heh, he-heh!" Cuts Man admitted with a sinister laugh as he and SnakeMan also fired their weapons at MegaMan and Rush. Rush spiraled around in the air as he descended to the ground with MegaMan, avoiding all the plasma blasts, scissor blades, and snake missiles.  
  
"Good job, boy," MegaMan confessed as he and Rush landed on the ground just a few yards away from ProtoMan, GutsMan, CutMan, and SnakeMan.  
  
"Face it, little brother! You don't stand a chance against us anymore!" ProtoMan boasted.  
  
"That's what you think, bro! Plasma power!" MegaMan shouted as he fired his plasma cannon at the four robots.  
  
"Look out!" ProtoMan shouted as he, CutMan, and SnakeMan quickly dove out of the way. Unfortunately, GutsMan was nailed in the back with the powerful plasma blast when he tried to get out of the way and got knocked down face first to the ground.  
  
"What? How is this possible?" Dr. Wily shouted angrily as he slammed his fists against the Skull Car's control panel. "My robots should be invincible against that blue pest! Unless...Dr. Light somehow managed to recreate Dr. Stoutenburg's formula!"  
  
"Go get them, Rush!" MegaMan shouted.  
  
"Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked as he leapt on SnakeMan and bit his arm, knocking him, CutMan, and GutsMan to the ground in a domino effect.  
  
"Let go of my arm, you ssstupid metal mongrel!" SnakeMan complained loudly as he attempted to shake Rush off of his arm. Rush growled angrily as he tightened his vice-like grip on SnakeMan's arm.  
  
"That's it, boy! Keep it up!" MegaMan encouraged his robotic dog.  
  
"Nice job, bro, but you still have to deal with me!" ProtoMan announced as he fired his plasma cannon at MegaMan. MegaMan quickly jumped up in the air, avoiding the plasma blast, and returned fire. ProtoMan dove out of the way of the plasma blast and fired at MegaMan once again.  
  
As he fought ProtoMan, MegaMan had no idea that GutsMan was preparing to ambush him. The strong construction robot picked up the large tree that CutMan had cut down earlier and started to sneak up on MegaMan.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Rush spotted GutsMan sneaking up from behind MegaMan. "Ruff! MegaMan!" Rush barked as he momentarily let go of SnakeMan in order to warn the Blue Bomber.  
  
"Not ssso fassst!" SnakeMan hissed as he kicked Rush hard in the stomach. Rush howled loudly in pain as he went flying into the middle of the park.  
  
"Rush, no!" MegaMan shouted as he turned his head just in time to see Rush as he disappeared behind a tall cluster of trees in the distance.  
  
"You should worry more about yourself, little brother!" ProtoMan retorted as he fired his plasma cannon at MegaMan once again. MegaMan screamed in pain as the blast of plasma power struck him hard in the back, knocking him face-first to the ground.  
  
"Now, to put your lights out, Mega Dweeb!" GutsMan announced as he lifted the tree high above his head and slammed it down on the Blue Bomber. The tree trunk splintered apart into several chunks of wood from the force of the impact, scattering all around MegaMan's body.  
  
"That last hit...drained my...power," MegaMan whispered weakly as he noticed that the energy bar on the yellow buttons of his plasma cannon were down to low.  
  
"Looks like you're out of energy, bro, and out of luck!" ProtoMan remarked as he aimed his plasma cannon directly at MegaMan's head.  
  
Before he got the chance to fire, Dr. Wily shouted, "Stop!"  
  
"Why should I, Wily?" ProtoMan asked suspiciously.  
  
"I have big plans for our blue friend here. With a few modifications, I will reprogram MegaMan undt he will serve me," Dr. Wily explained.  
  
"You can forget that, Wily! I'll never work for you!" MegaMan argued.  
  
"We shall see, MegaMan. We shall see. Bring him aboard the Skull Car," Dr. Wily ordered his robots.  
  
"It's a done deal, o wicked one!" ProtoMan agreed as he and SnakeMan dragged MegaMan on board the Skull Car, followed by CutMan and GutsMan...  
  
Meanwhile, Miranda was back at home, watching the news report on the television set in the living room, with Rose keeping her company.  
  
"It appears that our beloved hero, MegaMan, has been defeated by Dr. Wily's evil robots and has been taken prisoner. Who knows what evil scheme Dr. Wily has in mind for the Blue Bomber? This is Brie Require signing out from Central Park," Brie stated.  
  
"This is terrible, Rose! I never should have given ProtoMan my grandpa's formula," Miranda complained as Rose turned off the television set.  
  
"Don't blame yourself, Miss Miranda. You did what you had to do to save your father," Rose reassured Miranda. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have laundry to finish."  
  
"See you later, Rose," Miranda replied as she watched the robotic housekeeper leave the living room. She let out a deep sigh as her thoughts went back to MegaMan. "I wish there was something I could do," Miranda muttered to herself. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.  
  
"Maybe my grandfather has an invention in his lab that I can use to help MegaMan!" Miranda gasped. She quickly ran into the library, climbed up the small stepladder, and pulled on the marine biology book. As the concealed door slid open, Miranda hopped off of the stepladder and ran down the stairs leading into her grandfather's secret laboratory.  
  
"Let's see..." Miranda muttered thoughtfully to herself as she looked over the videocassettes of her grandfather's recorded experiments.  
  
"Hmm...this might be something," Miranda muttered out loud as she took out a videotape labeled "Cybernetic Suit" from the shelf. She placed the videotape into the VCR and turned on the television set. Her grandfather appeared on the television screen after a few moments, with a disc and what appeared to be a small ruby sitting on the table in front of him.  
  
"Lately, I've designed and constructed a special cybernetic suit that, if approved, will be distributed to police and fire departments around the world," Dr. Stoutenburg explained. "Contained on this computer disc is a 3- D model of my prototype cybernetic suit."  
  
Dr. Stoutenburg paused for a moment as he turned around and inserted the disc into the CD-ROM drive of his mainframe. After pressing a few keys on the mainframe's keyboard, an image of a 3-D model in a robotic-style suit and helmet appeared on the screen.  
  
"No way!" Miranda gasped when she realized that the image of the cyber suit was almost a carbon copy of MegaMan, only the suit was in various shades of red instead of blue, there was a red visor attached to the helmet, and there were no visible briefs.  
  
"As you might have noticed, my prototype is modeled after our local hero, MegaMan. If you're curious about the choice in color, it happens to be my granddaughter's favorite." Miranda couldn't help but smile a bit, knowing that her grandfather was talking about her.  
  
"This prototype cyber suit comes equipped with a plasma cannon and an internal weapons converter. The cyber suit has a special mechanism located in the arm cannon that enables the wearer to recharge their robotic partner," Dr. Stoutenburg continued. "If the cyber suit is approved by the committee, I plan on designing two different suits, one specially designed for policemen and another suited for fire fighters."  
  
Dr. Stoutenburg paused as he pressed a couple more keys on the mainframe keyboard. Two more 3-D models appeared on either side of the red cyber suit prototype. One was red, yellow, and gray with a large yellow hose nozzle attached where the hand would normally be, and the other was blue and gray with a yellow police badge on the chest plate.  
  
"The fire fighter suit will be equipped with a water cannon and a built-in oxygen mask, while the policeman suit will be equipped with a laser cannon, which can also fire tear gas grenades and nets in more dire situations," Dr. Stoutenburg continued. "The cyber suit will also give the wearer robotic strength and protect the wearer from any possible dangers, such as falling debris, fire, and bullets, such as the potential hazards a policeman or fireman would encounter on the job. I have already created the prototype cyber suit modeled after MegaMan. It's contained inside a microchip, which I have installed into this small ruby I have before me. By merely touching this gem, it would activate the cyber suit and automatically format onto the wearer, no matter what their size or shape may be."  
  
"Automatically format onto anyone, huh?" Miranda muttered thoughtfully to herself as she stopped the videocassette. She approached the shelf full of chemicals and metal parts and looked around.  
  
"This has got to be it," Miranda whispered as she picked up a small box labeled "Cybernetic Suit" from the bottom shelf. She opened the box and found the same ruby that was in the video she was watching earlier. "Let's see if this thing really works," Miranda whispered as she picked up the ruby from the box.  
  
Suddenly, Miranda felt a slight static shock as her body became encased in a red glow. She closed her eyes for a moment until the strange shock eventually stopped. Miranda was a bit surprised when she no longer felt the ruby in her hand.  
  
As she opened her eyes, Miranda gasped loudly out of shock. Her arms were coated in a light red metal, with large bright red cannons on both arms and hands in a medium red.  
  
"Is it just me, or do my arms look longer?" Miranda asked herself as she examined her hands. "Oh, I get it! These are robotic hands! If they weren't, there would be no way that I'd be able to use the plasma cannon." Miranda looked up and spotted her reflection in a nearby mirror. She was astonished as to how much she looked like MegaMan's twin sister. The helmet, boots, and arm cannons were identical in style to MegaMan's; only the entire suit was in various shades of red instead of blue. There was even a ruby red tinted visor similar to MegaMan's visor attached to the helmet.  
  
"Wow! This is incredible! My grandfather definitely went all out on this one!" Miranda admitted as she examined herself in the mirror. "And with the visor, no one will be able to tell what color my eyes are! This is perfect! I can help MegaMan and no one will suspect that I'm not a robot! Since I look so much like MegaMan, maybe I should call myself 'MegaGirl.' Enough wasting time. I should go to Dr. Light. He must have a homing signal on MegaMan, so he'll be able to find him. And with Wily's bots twice as strong as before, Roll and Rush are gonna need all the help they can get!" The newly dubbed MegaGirl quickly ran back up the stairs leading back into the library and left the house...  
  
"Hmm...this is most puzzling," Dr. Light muttered thoughtfully. He was operating some small dials on the computer's control panel, trying to pick up MegaMan's homing signal, with Roll and Rush standing by.  
  
"What is it, Dr. Light?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"MegaMan's homing signal is very faint, but I don't quite understand why," Dr. Light explained.  
  
"Any idea where he is?" Roll asked.  
  
"From what I can tell, Mega's signal is coming from somewhere in the Catskill Mountain region, which would probably explain why the signal is so faint. The mountains must somehow be interfering with the frequency," Dr. Light confessed.  
  
"Looks like it's up to me and Rush to save MegaMan," Roll reluctantly admitted.  
  
"Maybe I can help you out, Roll," a familiar voice announced. Dr. Light, Roll, and Rush turned around and gasped slightly when they recognized the blonde girl dressed in red metal armor.  
  
"Miranda? Is that really you?" Roll asked curiously.  
  
"Yeah, it's me, Roll," MegaGirl replied as she stepped into the laboratory.  
  
"What are you wearing?" Roll asked.  
  
"It's a cyber suit, another one of my grandfather's inventions, only this one's going for a good cause," MegaGirl proclaimed.  
  
"But, are you sure it's safe to use, Miranda?" Dr. Light asked curiously. "This cyber suit could be dangerous."  
  
"That's just a risk I'll have to take, Dr. Light. And, for now, call me MegaGirl. That way, Wily won't find out about this invention, too," MegaGirl requested.  
  
"All right...MegaGirl," Roll replied.  
  
"Any luck finding MegaMan?" MegaGirl asked.  
  
"We know where he is, but not exactly. There's some interference with his homing signal, so we can't get a definite reading," Roll reluctantly admitted.  
  
"I know MegaMan's signal is weak, but perhaps you can hone in on his exact location with this portable receiver," Dr. Light explained as he handed the small pale blue device to Roll.  
  
"Thanks, Doc, but first, I better charge up," Roll replied as her eyes fell on the beaker containing the formula that Dr. Light made from Dr. Stoutenburg's notes.  
  
"Right away, Roll," Dr. Light replied as he took the medicine dropper out of the beaker, while Roll opened a panel on her utility cannon.  
  
"I'm ready, Dr. Light," Roll announced as Dr. Light approached her with the medicine dropper in hand.  
  
"Just hold still, Roll," Dr. Light instructed as he squeezed a drop of the olive green liquid out of the medicine dropper, which landed onto the circuits in Roll's utility cannon. As a result, Roll became encased in a white glow, just like her brother and Rush did earlier.  
  
"It's working, Dr. Light!" Roll exclaimed as the white glow eventually faded away.  
  
"That's great, Roll. Now we better get MegaMan out of Dr. Wily's clutches," MegaGirl suggested.  
  
"You bet we will, MegaGirl. Come on, Rush! Let's kick some ro-butt!" Roll shouted.  
  
"Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked in agreement as he quickly converted into jet mode. Both Roll and MegaGirl jumped onto Rush's back before he took off through the canopy exit...  
  
"Picking up anything, Roll?" MegaGirl asked curiously. The three friends had just reached the Catskill Mountains.  
  
"Not yet, MegaGirl," Roll muttered out loud as she kept her eyes on the portable receiver that Dr. Light gave her. Just then, the receiver started beeping.  
  
"MegaMan's homing signal! It's coming in loud and clear!" Roll announced.  
  
"That's great news, Roll! Where is he?" MegaGirl asked.  
  
"It's coming from down there," Roll explained, pointing at a small clearing nestled within the several mountains. "We better land so Wily's bots don't spot us."  
  
"Good idea," MegaGirl agreed as Rush descended down in the clearing and landed behind a large boulder. As Rush converted back into his original robot dog form, Roll cautiously peered around the boulder.  
  
"What do you see, Roll?" MegaGirl asked as she also peered around the boulder.  
  
"It's Wily's bots," Roll whispered as she pointed at CutMan, GutsMan, and SnakeMan, who were standing in front of a cave in the side of one of the mountains.  
  
"They must be guarding something inside that cave," MegaGirl realized.  
  
"Yeah, and I'll bet all my circuits that that something is MegaMan," Roll muttered out loud.  
  
"No problem, Roll. I'll get GutsMan, CutMan, and SnakeMan away from the cave, while you sneak in and free MegaMan," MegaGirl suggested.  
  
"Hold on one nanosecond, MegaGirl. Wily's bots are very dangerous. Rush and I will draw them away from the cave, while you go in to save MegaMan," Roll insisted.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Roll?" MegaGirl asked curiously.  
  
"Definitely. Come on, Rush!" Roll shouted.  
  
"Yeah, yeah!" Rush barked in agreement as he followed Roll out from behind the safety of the boulder.  
  
"Hey, it's that circuit skirt!" CutMan exclaimed when he saw Roll and Rush heading towards him, GutsMan, and SnakeMan.  
  
"You guys are toast!" Roll proclaimed as she activated the toaster attachment from her utility cannon and fired two fiery blasts at the three robots.  
  
"Ahh!" SnakeMan screamed as the fiery blasts nailed him, sending him flying back into the cave.  
  
"Let's get her!" GutsMan shouted as he and CutMan ran towards Roll and Rush.  
  
"You'll have to catch me first! Now, Rush!" Roll shouted. Rush nodded as he quickly converted into jet mode. Roll jumped on top of Rush as they flew away from GutsMan and CutMan.  
  
"Come on! Let can't let her escape!" CutMan shouted as he and GutsMan gave chase.  
  
MegaGirl waited behind the large boulder as Roll and Rush led GutsMan and CutMan away from the cave. When she was sure that the coast was clear, MegaGirl left the cover of the boulder and ran as fast as she could towards the cave. She stopped when she reached the mouth of the cave and stood near the opening.  
  
"Okay, so all I have to do is sneak past ProtoMan and Dr. Wily, find MegaMan, and get him out of here," MegaGirl whispered to herself. She carefully peered into the cave and gasped slightly when she saw SnakeMan standing there. "Oh, shoot! I forgot about SnakeMan!" MegaGirl looked down at her left arm, where her plasma cannon was located.  
  
"Maybe I can take him myself. It's only one robot." MegaGirl took in a deep breath as she ran into the cave.  
  
"Hey! Who are you, and what are you doing here?" SnakeMan asked when he saw the mysterious red female robot run into the cave.  
  
"That's for me to know, and you'll never find out!" MegaGirl retorted.  
  
"I don't think ssso!" SnakeMan hissed as he fired one of his snake missiles at the female robot. MegaGirl jumped out of the way of the snake missile, which flew right out of the cave.  
  
"Now it's my turn, SnakeMan!" MegaGirl shouted as her synthetic robotic hand slid into her plasma cannon. She fired a powerful blast of plasma power at SnakeMan, knocking him into the stone wall and causing him to shut down from the blow.  
  
"Wow! I actually did it!" MegaGirl gasped as her robotic hand slid back into place. She cautiously approached SnakeMan and placed her right hand on his arm cannon.  
  
"Cool! The weapons converter works," MegaGirl admitted as she saw the schematics for SnakeMan's snake missile appear in her visor for a few seconds. As soon as the schematics disappeared, MegaGirl headed down the small tunnel until she reached a larger section of the cave. As she peered into the room, MegaGirl could see Dr. Wily and ProtoMan standing in front of a massive computer monitor.  
  
"I'll bet this cyber suit that MegaMan's in there," MegaGirl muttered to herself, referring to a small opening in the stone wall on the opposite side of the room.  
  
As quickly as she could, MegaGirl snuck across the room as quietly and quickly as she could and went into the small opening, unaware that someone did spot her out of the corner of his eye. She quickly went down a small flight of stone stairs and found herself in what looked like an old makeshift dungeon.  
  
"MegaMan!" MegaGirl gasped when she saw the Blue Bomber lying in the prison cell in the back of the room. "Hold on! I'll have you out of there in a second!" MegaGirl aimed her plasma cannon at the metal keyhole and fired a snake missile, which ate away the lock. MegaGirl pushed the now unlocked door open and knelt down next to MegaMan. "Can you hear me, MegaMan? Please say something."  
  
Just then, MegaMan slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Miranda? What are you doing here?" he asked in a low whisper. "And what's with the suit? You almost look like...like a robot."  
  
"That's...kinda the idea, Mega. I'll explain it to you later. Right now, I better get you outta here," MegaGirl explained.  
  
"I don't know if I'll be able to fight at all," MegaMan whispered as MegaGirl pulled him up into a standing position. "I need an energy charge."  
  
"Don't worry, MegaMan," MegaGirl whispered as she helped MegaMan walk out of the cell. "I can handle it, and for now, call me MegaGirl."  
  
"So, is that what I call you?" a familiar voice retorted. MegaGirl looked up and gasped when she saw ProtoMan standing in front of the stairs, looking at her with a little smirk on his face.  
  
"You must be ProtoMan," MegaGirl muttered out loud.  
  
"You got that right!" ProtoMan remarked. "And unless I heard wrong, you must be MegaGirl."  
  
"Yeah, that's me," MegaGirl retorted as she propped the drained MegaMan up against the wall. "You better get out of the way, ProtoMan, unless you wanna be recycled into soda cans!"  
  
"Ha! Yeah, right," ProtoMan retorted sarcastically. "You don't stand a chance against me, MegaGirl!"  
  
"We'll see about that!" MegaGirl shouted as she activated her plasma cannon and fired at ProtoMan. ProtoMan quickly jumped out of the way of the plasma blast and returned fire. The plasma blast from ProtoMan's arm cannon struck MegaGirl in the stomach, knocking her back into the wall where she left MegaMan.  
  
"See, what did I tell you?" ProtoMan admitted nonchalantly as he slowly walked towards MegaGirl. "There's no way you can beat me. Maybe you wanna wise up and join us instead."  
  
"Fat chance, ProtoMan!" MegaGirl retorted.  
  
"Have it your way, then," ProtoMan replied. "It's a shame I gotta destroy you, though. You're kinda cute...for a robot."  
  
"Gee, I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted!" MegaGirl retorted.  
  
"I was going for flattered," ProtoMan revealed.  
  
Just then, MegaGirl recalled something that her grandfather said in the video he made about the cyber suit: "The cyber suit has a special mechanism located in the arm cannon that enables the wearer to recharge their robotic partner."  
  
_I wonder if that will work for MegaMan. Only one way to find out!_ MegaGirl thought to herself.  
  
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" ProtoMan asked sarcastically as MegaGirl reached for MegaMan's left hand. "He can't help you now. He's out like a light!"  
  
"He won't be for long, ProtoMan!" MegaGirl shouted as she placed her hand on MegaMan's arm cannon.  
  
"Hey! What the...?" ProtoMan gasped out of surprise. His brother was suddenly encased in a green glow, apparently from MegaGirl's touch. Soon after the glow faded away, MegaMan quickly opened his eyes and stood up, along with MegaGirl.  
  
"Time to put your lights out, ProtoMan!" MegaMan announced as he and MegaGirl both fired their plasma cannons at ProtoMan. The combined blasts of plasma power knocked ProtoMan into the open prison cell. MegaMan quickly closed the door and held it steady while MegaGirl wrapped a piece of chain around the bars to secure it.  
  
"That ought to hold him," MegaMan muttered out loud as he welded the two ends of the chain together with his plasma cannon.  
  
"Yeah, but not for long," MegaGirl pointed out as ProtoMan slowly started to come out of it.  
  
"We better beat it before he gets out!" MegaMan shouted as he and MegaGirl ran up the flight of stairs. They soon reached the main section of the cave, where Dr. Wily was standing.  
  
"What's this? MegaMan! How did you get out?" Dr. Wily exclaimed loudly as he pulled wildly at his unkempt gray hair.  
  
"You can thank me for that, Wily!" MegaGirl boasted as she stepped out from behind MegaMan.  
  
"What? Not another goody two-circuits robot!" Dr. Wily complained loudly. "ProtoMan!"  
  
"Yeah, Doc?" ProtoMan asked as he reached the top of the stairs.  
  
"Destroy them both!" Dr. Wily shouted as he pointed at MegaMan and MegaGirl.  
  
"My pleasure!" ProtoMan remarked as he fired his plasma blaster at MegaMan and MegaGirl.  
  
"Look out!" MegaMan shouted as he pushed MegaGirl out of the way of ProtoMan's attack. "We better get out of here!"  
  
"Yeah, but first, we better put Wily out of commission," MegaGirl announced as she fired her plasma cannon at the computer monitor.  
  
"No! NO!" Dr. Wily shouted as the computer monitor blew up in a series of small fiery explosions.  
  
"Let's beat it, MegaGirl!" MegaMan shouted as he and MegaGirl ran towards the cave's entrance.  
  
"To the Skull Car!" Dr. Wily instructed as he and ProtoMan got into the Skull Car, which was parked inside of the cave.  
  
"We gotta hurry, MegaMan. Roll and Rush are going to need our help," MegaGirl revealed. "They kept GutsMan and CutMan busy so I could get you out of there."  
  
"Okay," MegaMan replied as they ran out of the cave while going past SnakeMan, who was still out like a light. A few minutes later, the Skull Car arrived by the cave's entrance.  
  
"Oh, great! Now I have to rebuild SnakeMan again!" Dr. Wily complained as he pressed a button on the Skull Car's control panel. Instantly, a pair of robotic arms came out of the Skull Car's mouth and dragged SnakeMan inside a large hole.  
  
"That MegaGirl's pretty impressive...for a girl robot," ProtoMan admitted.  
  
"MegaGirl?" Dr. Wily repeated.  
  
"That's what she called herself, Dr. Wily," ProtoMan explained.  
  
"That...MegaGirl is a mega menace! She must be stopped, along with that equally annoying MegaMan!" Dr. Wily proclaimed as he steered the Skull Car out of the cave. "Where's GutsMan and CutMan?"  
  
"Over there!" ProtoMan announced as he pointed at a small clearing in the distance, where MegaMan and MegaGirl were also heading.  
  
"I hope MegaMan and MegaGirl get back soon. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up," Roll muttered out loud as she and Rush spun around in the air, barely avoiding a barrage of CutMan's scissor blades.  
  
"Hold still, so I can give you a haircut...from the neck up!" CutMan shouted.  
  
"You can expect nothing but trouble from me, CutMan!" Roll boasted.  
  
"And don't forget about me, dumb-bots!" GutsMan and CutMan turned around and gasped when they saw MegaMan standing there.  
  
"MegaMan!" Roll exclaimed happily.  
  
"Doo doo-doo! Yay, Mega!" Rush cheered.  
  
"It's the blue dweeb! But, how did he get out?" GutsMan asked.  
  
"I had some help from a friend!" MegaMan announced as MegaGirl joined him.  
  
"Not another goody-good bot!" CutMan complained.  
  
"I'm gonna crush that Mega Dweeb into tin cans!" GutsMan proclaimed as he ran after MegaMan.  
  
"Guess that leaves just you and me, CutMan," MegaGirl announced.  
  
"Whoever you are, I'll slice and dice you!" CutMan shouted as he fired a scissor blade at MegaGirl.  
  
"The name's MegaGirl, and by the way, you need target practice, CutMan!" MegaGirl announced as she dodged the scissor blade.  
  
"Now, it's my turn!" MegaGirl quickly fired a plasma blast at CutMan.  
  
"Ahh!" CutMan shouted as the plasma blast nailed him in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground and short-circuit.  
  
"Nice one, MegaGirl," Roll admitted as she gave MegaGirl a thumbs-up.  
  
"Thanks, Roll. Now to put his weapon to better use," MegaGirl replied as she placed her hand on CutMan's head.  
  
"You better hurry, MegaGirl. Looks like MegaMan could use some help," Roll revealed.  
  
Once she finished copying CutMan's weapon, MegaGirl looked up and saw GutsMan swinging punches at MegaMan.  
  
"Nice try, Gutsy, but you're still a little slow!" MegaMan taunted.  
  
"Ohh! I'll get you, Mega Punk!" GutsMan shouted angrily as he lifted a large boulder.  
  
"Hey, GutsMan! I'm cutting you off at the pass!" MegaGirl shouted as she fired a scissor blade at him from her plasma cannon. The scissor blade went through both of GutsMan's legs through the knee joints.  
  
"Whoa!" GutsMan shouted as he fell off of his disconnected legs, with the boulder he was holding flattening him like a pancake.  
  
"Looks like he went to pieces!" MegaMan joked as MegaGirl, Roll, and Rush joined him.  
  
Suddenly, a powerful laser blast came out of nowhere, striking the boulder that had GutsMan pinned to the ground and breaking it into several pieces. MegaMan, MegaGirl, Roll, and Rush turned around and saw the Skull Car floating behind them.  
  
"You haven't seen the last of me, MegaMan! I'll be back!" Dr. Wily shouted as he flew the Skull Car above their heads. As the Skull Car flew away, its robotic arms picked up GutsMan and CutMan's dismembered bodies.  
  
"That cares of Wily," Roll admitted.  
  
"Yeah, for now. But he'll be back," MegaMan muttered out loud. "Come on, we better get back to the lab."  
  
"Good idea, MegaMan," MegaGirl agreed as they started to leave...  
  
"That's incredible, Miranda. It's a shame that Dr. Stoutenburg never got the chance to see this cybernetic suit of his in action," Dr. Light confessed.  
  
"I know, but there's one small problem. I have no idea how to take this cyber suit off," MegaGirl reluctantly admitted. "I can't stay like this forever!"  
  
"Well, how did you get in the cyber suit in the first place?" MegaMan asked curiously.  
  
"My grandpa had the cyber suit converted into a microchip, which he disguised as a small ruby," MegaGirl explained. "When I held the ruby, I became MegaGirl, but I don't know what happened to the ruby."  
  
"Hmm...since this ruby was the trigger for the cybernetic suit, perhaps it has converged into part of the cyber suit itself," Dr. Light suggested.  
  
"Hey, what about that?" Roll suggested, pointing at the red diamond shape on MegaGirl's helmet.  
  
"That could be it, Roll. I tried about everything else," MegaGirl revealed as she touched the diamond shape on her helmet. She instantly became encased in a red glow. When the red glow vanished, Miranda found herself back in her own clothes, with the ruby back in her hand.  
  
"It worked! Thanks, Roll," Miranda admitted as she put the ruby in her pocket. "Maybe I can attach this to my locket or my watch, that way I have easy access to it whenever you need my help, MegaMan."  
  
"I don't know about this, Miranda," MegaMan revealed. "With that cyber suit on, you may appear to be a robot on the outside, but you're still human. You could get hurt very badly."  
  
"I know about the risks involved, MegaMan, but I'm still going to do it," Miranda insisted. "The cyber suit is composed of a titanium skin, so it'll protect me from any major damage. Besides, I'm only acting as a last resort. You only call me when you really need my help. What do you say?"  
  
MegaMan hesitated for a few moments, thinking hard about Miranda's suggestion. "Well...okay..." MegaMan reluctantly agreed, "but only if I really need your help, okay, Miranda?"  
  
"I can work with that," Miranda replied...TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
